(One small inaccracy in the article: NYU did not rank in the 30s in the 1970s--it was always in the top 15, sometimes the top ten: see, e.g., here. On the other hand, it is certainly true that while John Sexton was the public face of NYU's improvement in the 1990s, Sager was the 'brains,' i.e., a key player in identifying the faculty a school with aspirations should be hiring.)